This is a great account of what it felt like to be a 3rd party in Beirut during the recent conflict. Not very political, but rather insightful. You many have to click through a wittle addie to read it.

Watching Beirut Die

Anthony Bourdain, btw, is a hero to many of us that have grunted in fancy kitchens stateside. He can inspire true man-lust.

"Vegetarians, and their Hezbollah-like splinter faction, the vegans, are a persistent irritant to any chef worth a damn. To me, life without veal stock, pork fat, sausage, organ meat, demiglace, or even stinky cheese is a life not worth living."

Quote from: maximusotterThis is a great account of what it felt like to be a 3rd party in Beirut during the recent conflict. Not very political, but rather insightful. You many have to click through a wittle addie to read it.

Watching Beirut Die

Anthony Bourdain, btw, is a hero to many of us that have grunted in fancy kitchens stateside. He can inspire true man-lust.

"Vegetarians, and their Hezbollah-like splinter faction, the vegans, are a persistent irritant to any chef worth a damn. To me, life without veal stock, pork fat, sausage, organ meat, demiglace, or even stinky cheese is a life not worth living."

Israel would not have dropped a single bomb if the Beirut Government were tough on Hezbollah, Hezbollah kidnapped the soldiers, probably Innocent, they want to exchange them for Hezbollah prisoners, whats the odds a few would do suicide bombs back in Israel, its a mess but Hezbollah did start it.

"- The Shiite terrorist group receives US$120-million in annual financing from Tehran, where it operates an office on a central downtown street.

- Hezbollah was created by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Several hundred IRGC officers are operating in Lebanon to this day, assisting Hezbollahs war effort.
"

" During fighting in Lebanon, Israeli soldiers have seized weaponry marked with the logo of Iranian military manufacturers, such as the grenade launcher featured in the photo below."
http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=0d0beb68-4f89-4298-9bef-d83303988fff

It was not Hezbollah who started it, it was when people living in the Israel area got chased away by the the world after the WWII, to build a new country because of some old scriptures with old religious content.

Lebensraum

Lebensraum might be a bit too harsh, but that the top Israeli leadership has romanticised teh theory of American Manifest Destiny circa the 1840s is apparent.

What struck me about the article is how this modern city with fancy food and discos and booze and the magic of such an amalgam, can just melt in 48 hours. It takes a while for the shelling and smoke and fire to become real, and then you realize that the citys dying, as Bourdain said. Its a classic cycle of elation, shock, and loss.